Gainesville Bound

After a year of adventures in Tampa we are moving back to Gainesville.  This year has definitely been one of learning for us. We decided to move to Tampa a year ago to pursue my career with the full anticipation of Mark finding a job within the first few months.   A year later, after spending weeks apart because Mark still has his great job in Gainesville, we are moving back.  Neither of us would have predicted that a year later we'd be packing boxes once again and buying a house 5 blocks from where we used to live.  There are a lot of factors that resulted in this decision but ultimately we want to live together(7 days a week), in a place we like to live(and don't have to fight terrible traffic twice a day), and where we can both get good jobs.  Gainesville fits that picture perfectly.  We're going back with a fresh perspective in many ways, and are excited to begin to feel settled in a place we know and have grown to love.  We are buying our first house, I am working at UF in a research, teaching and clinical role, and Mark is still the City Arborist.  Since making the decision to move back to Gainesville things have fallen into place.  Jacob(miraculously) got back into the same class at his old school, we found a great house within walking distance to a number of our favorite shops, and we're excited to be moving into a familiar but new stage in our life.  It is bittersweet leaving my current job but I could not have more supportive co-workers.  So, Monday morning the moving truck arrives and we're Gainesville bound!  More to come including pictures of our new house :-)

Halloween 2014

Happy Halloween!  We had a wonderful time this year . . . after convincing a very 3 year old Jacob it was a good day to wear his costume.  Jacob decided he wanted to be a sarafri train conductor this year and we bought the costume a couple of weeks ago so he had plenty of time to get comfortable wearing it.  Jacob picked out costumes for Mark and I (safari animals), and we had the tiger costume from last year that Bailey so fortunately was able to wear for a few pictures.

Jacob's school had a Fall Festival yesterday that we all went to.  He doesn't usually go to school on Fridays so he wasn't to sure about going and refused to wear his costume.  By the time I got home from work he was convinced dressing up on Halloween day was ok and was in full conductor attire.  We took Bailey trick or treating to a few neighbors houses and then went to the Children's Museum for their Halloween party.  We all had fun and it was a comfortable place for Jacob to enjoy the Halloween festivities.  Enjoy the pictures!  

Sick days

We've spent the last 2 days home sick;  Jacob has a sinus infection/ terrible cough.  Despite spending a lot of time watching Curious George and snuggling on the couch we've spent some time playing "Safari Train" on the porches.  We have 2 trains and Jacob is (usually) the train conductor/ zookeeper.  Here's a couple of pictures of our cute little zookeeper.

"Potty Training"

I'm not sure that potty training is an accurate term here.  In the last week, Jacob decided he was ready to wear undies and use the potty and that's it, he's doing it. Period, done, I could end the post here.

Let me rewind a few months though.   We've been trying, on and off for a few months to potty train him with no success.  In the back of my mind I kept repeating to myself the advice a good friend gave me about potty training, "You can't want it more than they do." 

1.  We tried the "potty train you child in 3 days" routine where we didn't leave the house, he ran around with no diaper and we tried taking him to the potty a lot.  That didn't work, he just held it forever and then peed a gallon on the floor wherever he was.

2.  We tried the timer method, asking him to go sit on the potty every 20 minutes all weekend until he peed.  That didn't work, he refused to sit on the potty.

3.  We tried sticker charts.  He tore them up.

4.  We even tried offering a toy for each time he went to the potty.  He told us "I don't need toys."

5.  We didn't try the "M&M method" because there wasn't a food that would have bribed him and he won't eat M&Ms or any other candy.  (Maybe we could have tried ice cream cones :-))

I decided our next try was to going to include only underwear.  He's been wearing pull-ups at school (his current classroom won't allow diapers).  He just treats them like diapers though so they aren't helping with the potty training.    So my thought was, put underwear on him (we did try this a very long time ago briefly but he wouldn't even put them on) and see how it goes. 

Fast forward to last Saturday.  He woke up with a dry diaper and even after watching an episode of Curious George in he was still dry.  So, I decided I'd take him downstairs and ask him to sit on his potty while I got his breakfast together.  He peed immediately.  So, I put underwear on him and we went about our day.  We (nervously) went to the Aquarium in the morning and he stayed dry but refused to use the bathroom there and then peed in his car seat right before we got home.  We put him down for nap in pull ups and after nap put underwear back on and kept on trucking. 

Fast forward again to tonight, Friday night.  He hasn't had another accident since, has woken up with a dry diaper every morning, and is wearing undies to bed for the first time tonight (his choice).  He did it, and he is proud, and we are too!  He tells us when he needs to go and goes, he tells his teachers when he needs to go and goes.  We spent the first couple of days asking him frequently if he needed to try as a reminder.  Now, if we ask him he replies, "If I'm doing the potty dance I need to pee.  If I'm not doing the potty dance I don't need to pee.  I'm not doing the potty dance."  He's completely got it and he's shocked all of us a bit. 

I stayed home with him Monday just to  have one more day to solidify things before he went to school.   On Tuesday when I took him in with undies his teachers were quite apprehensive(rightly so, he sits on the potty everyday at school multiple times and hasn't gone once).  He did it though, he didn't have any accidents.  The next day they were much more optimistic, and by the time I picked him on Thursday they said "he's got this" and smiled. 

This shouldn't surprise us because he seems to make this type of change suddenly and not until he is completely ready.   He showed no signs before he stopped nursing suddenly right before 18 months. Within 5 days he stopped.  He didn't climb out of his crib until the week he turned 3 and then he did it non stop so we took the side off of his crib and there was no transition period at all to sleeping in his now "toddler bed".   

So now, he's ready to go, have fun, play, be a 3 year old wearing his cute little 4T Disney undies and Mark and I are trying to figure out what to do in this new stage of life. :-)

September

I can't believe tomorrow is the last day of September!  I don't even remember what we did this month and it's already over.  We're still waiting for Fall to arrive and in the meantime pretending it's Fall by drinking pumpkin coffee, baking pumpkin cookies, and burning Fall scented candles.  There was one evening last week that I was able to sit outside on the porch comfortably in the evening and read . . .so I'm hoping the time is coming.

In Jacob news, we're working on potty trainings (more on that later).  He is proving once again to have a mind of his own and he keeps us on our toes.  He decided what he's going to be for Halloween and has been wearing his costume daily.  I'm excited about this because I was worried he would want nothing to do with it.  Bailey and Jacob have been best buddies recently at home.  Jacob calls her "Dylan" is horse and if he's not making sure she's right by his side she's making sure she's only a few feet from him. 

Mark and I are working away, trying to make the most of our family weekends together and make the weeks go by quickly when we're apart.  We definitely didn't expect that this would still be our situation 9 months after moving but we're taking things one day at a time and trying to enjoy what life brings us.  We're looking forward to the pumpkin patches, corn mazes, visits from friends, cooler weather (hopefully) and birthday parties October brings. 

3 Years Old

Jacob turned 3 on August 1st and I feel like he grew up overnight!  We had his birthday party the weekend before at the Glazer Children's Museum in downtown Tampa.  It was a crowded day at the museum but we had our own room to play for a few hours and enjoyed spending time with close friends and family.  Grandma and Grandad came for the weekend and Uncle Scott, Aunt Mo and Jason were in Orlando on vacation and came over for the day.  On Jacob's actual birthday we left for a much needed family vacation. (I'll do another post with pictures out week in Edisto later.)  We celebrated Jacob's birthday along the way with little presents to keep him busy on the car ride and a picnic lunch.   He wanted an ice cream cone with no ice cream for his birthday treat so after dinner that night we all went to the ice cream shop in the golf cart and Jacob got 3 ("because he's 3 years old") ice cream cones with no ice cream.  The people at the ice cream shop were quite entertained by his request.  

1st "Build-A-Bear":  A dog he named Deuce dressed in a Gator football uniform.

Family photo at dinner on on the beach with Grandma and Grandad

Birthday party room with a view of downtown Tampa

Birthday cupcakes

Playing with Grandad at his party

Aunt Megan came too :-)

Not too sure about blowing out his candle; Genevieve came to help.

Ice cream cones for the birthday treat

Museum fun with Grandad

Cousins at the museum

Birthday treats . . . Jacob's perfect combo

Cousin Jason

3!

Best buddies!  10 days apart :-)

Cousins

Sneaking a cupcake in the tunnels . . . his first ever.  No icing and he didn't want anyone to know he was trying it.  He liked it

Tunnel fun

Trying to convince them to blow out the candle

Birthday balloon

Sunset on the beach

Present time

I took him to the doctor for his 3 year check up and as we already knew he is a healthy growing boy.
Height: 40.75 inches (98th percentile); I think this might be a little stretch because of a wiggly kid :-), my measurement is 39.5 inches.
Weight: 37lbs (91st percentile)

Enjoy the pictures from the party and Jacob's 3rd birthday.  The rest of the post is mostly just for us to be able to look back and remember all of the little details about Jacob at 3 years old.

Jacob likes:
-playing at home
-time with Mommy and Daddy
-music(all music, any music, singing and instruments)
-books
-animals
-trains
-Bailey
-cooking in his kitchen
-"working"
-Disney

Jacob likes to eat:
-berries
-carrots
-cauliflower
-noodles
-pancakes, plain with no butter or syrup
-cinnamon (plain), cinnamon scones, cinnamon pancakes
-edamame
-broccoli
-peaches
-plums
-extra sharp white cheddar cheese
-plain yogurt
-watermelon
-steel cut oatmeal
-tomates
-peppers
-corn
-salmon
-rainbow trout
-cheese grits
-plain bagels
-milk
-water
-ice cream cones(cake cones)


Jacob doesn't like to eat:
-everything not listed above!. . . but in particular . . .
-meat
-sauces
-desserts
-bananas
-all cheese that's not extra sharp white cheddar
-juice

Jacob is a very busy 3 year old who rarely stops talking and never stops moving (even when he's sleeping).  He is cuddly and observant and curious.  He doesn't like to be told no, and likes to spend lots of times at home playing with Mommy, Daddy and Bailey.  His vocabulary shocks us daily and continues to grow.  He doesn't forget ANYTHING!  He's strong willed and sensitive and loves to know what is going on all the times. He's interested in his family and how everyone is related and where they are.  He can identify some letters and most numbers 0-10.  His imagination is growing exponentially.  He is shy around big groups and new people and doesn't like being in the spotlight around anyone outside of the house.  He knows how old he is and that his birthday is August 1st.  He loves having "shows" singing songs and playing his instruments and being a helper to anyone he can.  He tells us he works at USF (where is school is) and he always has "work" to do at home.   He is excellent at playing "I Spy", he's recently interested in tennis and he likes to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Daniel Tiger.  He is very opinionated about food and the clothes he wears (usually "exercise" pants and a t-shirt).  He is afraid of the shower, doesn't like loud noises and asks "who" "what" "where" "when" and "why" questions non-stop.  He keeps us on our toes and makes us laugh daily!

He's 3!

Birthday bagel

Birthday lunch picnic on vacation

Enjoying some presents

His new bike

Birthday "ice cream" with Great Grandad Jack

 

Happy 3rd Birthday Jacob Henry!

Dear Jacob,

Today you are 3!  The final few days before you were born felt like an eternity and now the past 3 years feel like they've gone by in an instant.  You are such a happy, loving, curious, smart little boy!  Your imagination is growing, vocabulary is growing and your memory amazes us everyday!  You never stop talking and never stop moving(this was the case when you were in my belly too).  You love to know everything that is going on and are always "working".  You love music more and more everyday.  You're our little train conductor, animal loving, musician who always wants to include everyone in all that we do.  

This year had been full of changes.  We've gotten our money's worth of our annual zoo passes, traveled to Virginia and Oregon, moved to Tampa, started new schools, had many visitors, and enjoyed living close to Disney.  You are still the healthiest little picky eater I know (but you did try an icing-less cupcake for the first time at your birthday party).  You love Mickey and all of his friends but are terrified of the characters in person.  You don't EVER let us forget anything!  You love being the center of attention at home but are very shy around others.  You like exploring, building forts, pretending its Opposite Day, snuggling with Mommy and Daddy and you love Bailey.  You make so many people smile everyday and we love you beyond words!

Happy 3rd Birthday Jacob Henry!

Love, Mommy & Daddy

Here is a link to a 3rd birthday slideshow.  Enjoy :-). http://youtu.be/ONtI148A5Tk